The present invention relates to a method for automatic checking of the availability of technical equipment in or at a building, and to a device for automatic checking of the availability of technical equipment.
There are usually installed in buildings or in the environment of buildings a number of items of technical equipment which in normal operation multiply execute at least one repeatable procedure in order to satisfy various needs of users of the respective building, for example elevators, alarm and warning systems for protecting against risks due to break-ins, fire, smoke or water, heating, ventilation and air-conditioning installations, office equipment, communications systems, etc. In the case of an elevator installation, for example, the travel of a car is a repeatable procedure in this sense. Correspondingly, repeatable procedures can be defined in the case of other technical equipment.
It is in the interests of a user of a building that all items of technical equipment in the building are in a state of guaranteeing to the user a greatest possible degree of availability. Since operational disturbances can impair the availability of the technical equipment and in a given case can cause a reduction in convenience or even represent a safety risk it is of interest for operational disturbances of the respective technical equipment to be recognized as early as possible and the causes thereof established.
In order to avoid interruptions in operation as much as possible, items of technical equipment are in a given case subjected to maintenance with greater or lesser frequency. A component of maintenance is often performance of diagnosis by means of which it is established whether the technical equipment fulfils all intended functions in accordance with the expectation. A test of the technical equipment is frequently carried out within the scope of such a diagnosis. Thus, a control of the technical equipment can be given a suitable command and subsequently a reaction of the technical equipment registered and compared with a target reaction. The target reaction is in that case that reaction caused by the respective command insofar as the technical equipment behaves as intended in accordance with its specification. If the diagnosis reveals a difference between the target reaction and the reaction actually registered consequent to the command, then this indicates an operating fault.
According to European patent document EP 1378477 A1 technical equipment in buildings can be controlled by a monitoring system in that specific state data of the controls of the items of technical equipment to be monitored are communicated by way of a communications network to a monitoring station. The state data received in the monitoring station do not allow any reliable conclusions about whether or not the respective item of technical equipment is available at that moment. If, for example, the technical equipment in normal operation is in use only with interruptions or if the control of the technical equipment itself should have a defect an impairment of the availability of the technical equipment is not recognized without further measures or is recognized only with a delay.